Finding our links in History - One Genealogist's thoughts, tidbits, and inspirations - All very much randomly posed.
One person's life does not stand-alone but interacts with family, neighbors, community, and history. Our Trees become Tangled just by living. --
T.

Monday, September 19, 2011

The Carignan-Salieres Regiment was the first regular military unit to serve in New France (now Canada). Most people with French Canadian ancestry will have one or more ancestors who served in the Carignan-Salières Regiment.
Shown below is our ancestor, Mathurin Gregoire's burial record as seen on PRDH noting under "Occupation" that he was a soldier in the Carignan Regiment.

In 1665, King Louis XVI ordered the Carignan-Salieres Regiment to New France to help protect the Royal Colony. Between June and September 1665, some twenty-four companies of 1200 soldiers and their officers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment arrived in Quebec. King Louis XIV's plan included the permanent settlement of New France and over 400 soldiers decided to remain in the colony and marry newly arrived 'filles du roi'.

The uniform of the régiment de Carignan-Salières, stationed in New France between 1665 and 1668, was brown with a gray lining that was visible in the upturned sleeves, forming a decorative facing. Buff-coloured and black ribbons decorated the hat and right shoulder, in accordance with the style of the time. The soldiers of the régiment de Carignan-Salières all wore swords and most were armed with matchlock and flintlock muskets. Some had a light flintlock musket known as a fusil.